


Just a Normal Day

by awakened_treepanda



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Cafe Leblanc (Persona 5), Cousins!Naoto and Shuichi, Crossover - Persona & Danganronpa, Gen, Honorifics, Mentions of Other Canon Persona Games, Persona 5 Spoilers, Persona Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-01 07:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17240303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awakened_treepanda/pseuds/awakened_treepanda
Summary: Akira hadn't expected to meet both the Ultimate Detective and the original Detective Prince during his Golden Week.





	Just a Normal Day

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year to y'all. 
> 
> I want more crossover fics.  
> ~Panda
> 
> P.S. Many thanks to [Zetta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReturnToZero), [Carnival](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUltimateSaltySnack/pseuds/TheUltimateSaltySnack), and everyone else that helped in the making of this fic.

_Anyways, where are we meeting up?_

_I assume you have a place in mind for this...particular discussion._

_DON’T WORRY._

_I KNOW THE PERFECT PLACE._

_IT’S CALLED CAFE LEBLANC. LOCATED IN THE BACKSTREETS OF YONGEN-JAYA._

_THEIR COFFEE IS SPECTACULAR._

_Alright. I’ll be there by 2._

_And..._

_Thank you so much for helping me out._

_I don’t know what I would’ve done without you._

_IT’S FINE. REALLY._

_THAT’S WHAT COUSINS ARE FOR, AFTER ALL._

  


* * *

  


As usual, Leblanc was having a slow day.

  


Akira stood behind the counter, apron-donned and cup in hand, carefully polishing the demitasse to perfection. The rest of his friends occupied their usual hangout booth, each contributing to the conversation in their own way save for Morgana, who was sound asleep on Ann’s lap.

  


The leader of the infamous Phantom Thieves had moved back to his hometown well over a month ago, his one-year probation having come to an end. Ever since, he hadn’t lost contact with any the friends he had made over the eventful year, keeping a close eye on their ever-lively chat room and offering a listening ear and advice to whoever needed it. Akira might not have been in Tokyo physically, but it was almost as if he had never left.

  


Of course, ‘Joker’ was far from satisfied, so as soon as Golden Week had approached, the trickster had somehow managed to corner his parents and persuade them to let him spend his break with Sojiro in Tokyo. Thus, here he was, manning the shop while the boss ran some errands.

  


“Man,” Ryuji started, garnering the group’s attention, “still can’t believe we’re all here. I’d thought for sure at least Makoto or Haru’d be busy doin’ some kinda college stuff.”

  


Makoto smirked playfully. “Well, I certainly wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to see everyone again after so long.”

  


“Me neither!” Haru chirped. “I may be busy with both my studies and my father’s company, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make time for you guys.”

  


Indeed, as soon as Akira had messaged their chat with the news that he was staying over for Golden Week, his friends had collectively dropped their schedules and made plans to hang out together in Leblanc. The matter was out of his hands before he even had the chance to ask Sojiro if he could stay over!

  


The ceramic cup landed on the counter with a faint thud. “You know, you guys didn’t have to come if you were busy—“

  


“Don’t even finish that sentence, Akira! We don’t get many opportunities to see you!” Ann interrupted, the menace in her tone almost triggering the ravenette’s fight-or-flight response. “You may have just left last March, but we’ve…” her tone softened, “we’ve all missed you, y’know?”

  


“Yeah, man!”

  


“She’s quite correct!”

  


“I wholly agree.”

  


“Indeed.”

  


“What she said!”

  


One by one, the group voiced their agreements without restraint, overpowering any possible rebuttal Akira could’ve come up with. Normally, this would’ve been the point where he would’ve had to quiet them down so as not to disturb the other customers, but the only patron at the moment was a young twin-tailed brunette in the farthest end of the counter, earphones blocking out the sounds of their ruckus and thoroughly absorbed in her novel, leaving the ravenette with no means of silencing his rowdy friends.

  


Out of options, he sighed in resignation, annoyance quickly fading into endearment as he replied, “Okay, okay. I get it, so please just—”

  


The chime of a bell interrupted Akira, directing his and the others’ attention to the cafe’s entrance. 

  


The wooden door was wide open, held in place by a pale, slim hand. Its owner was a male, seemingly in his mid-teens, dressed in a sharp, pinstripe black uniform complemented by a hat and briefcase of the same color. Dark locks framed the stranger’s almost feminine face, accentuating his innocent but intelligent grey-gold eyes. His curious gaze wandered about, assessing the new surroundings, before a smile graced his features.

  


“I see,” he muttered to himself, hardly within Akira’s hearing range, but what kind of phantom thief would he be if he didn’t know how to read lips? “No wonder she chose this place.”

  


The meaning behind those words escaped the ravenette, but he didn’t have time to dwell on them as the new customer seated himself by the counter, set down his things, and glanced at the menu.

  


“Um, I’ll have 2 cups of your house blend,” he ordered after a brief moment, adjusting his hat to make eye contact with him. “One black, the other on the sweeter side.”

  


Akira responded with a curt nod, quickly moving to settle the order, until a thought occurred to him. He halted his movements, glancing back at the man sitting by the counter, before resuming. The action did not go unnoticed.

  


Not more than 3 minutes later, a cup of black coffee appeared on the counter.

  


“One house blend, black,” the barista told his patron, who reacted with a confused frown. As if reading his mind, the ex-Phantom Thief continued. “I’ll serve your other order when your companion arrives, sir.”

  


Realization dawned on the customer’s face. “Ah, did you deduce that the other drink was for someone else?,” he assumed, impressed. “You even noticed that the black coffee was mine with a single glance. You’re pretty observant.” His praise received a bashful chuckle in return.

  


Carefully, the stranger lifted the cup to his mouth, humming in content at the lush scent of coffee that greeted his nose. After blowing at the drink a few times, he took an experimental sip— 

  


“This tastes amazing!” he exclaimed, not loud enough for Akira’s friends, who had returned to their prior conversation, to hear, but loud enough for the young man to immediately pull his hat down to cover his flushed face.

  


“I-I’m sorry!” he stuttered out. A few moments later, the customer resumed, composure regained. “I was just caught off-guard by how delicious your coffee was,” he complimented, glancing down to his aromatic drink. “It’s no wonder why she wanted to meet here…”

  


Akira looked away, scratching the back of his head. “I just have a good mentor is all. Anyway, so you came here to meet with someone?” 

  


“Yes,” the other replied courteously. He tilted his hat and smiled. “I’m here to meet my cousin. We’re both detectives and, well, we needed to talk about a particular case. My name is Saihara Shuuichi, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

  


The ravenette raised a brow. This couldn’t have been a coincidence, could it? “Kurusu Akira. A pleasure. Um, if I may ask, what’s the case about?”

  


Shuuichi hummed in consideration. “Well, it’s almost impossible for you not to have heard about them, so I guess it’s fine if I tell you.” 

  


Akira leaned forward in anticipation, though he had a feeling he already knew what the detective was about to say next.

  


“It’s about the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.”

  


...He pretended not to notice his friends going silent and turning their attention to the private conversation.

  


“But why are you discussing them now of all times, Saihara-san? It’s been quite a while since they were last seen active,” the ravenette prodded with discretion, curious as to the stranger’s motives. Saihara Shuuichi didn’t seem to have malicious intentions, but he couldn’t help but be on his guard.

  


~~He’d rather not have a repeat of what happened with the last detective he had decided to trust.~~

  


“That’s...a bit hard to explain,” Shuuichi started uncertainly. “I go to an academy that focuses on nurturing talented high school students, so from time to time, they present us with challenges befitting of our individual skills—kind of like an informal assessment. And because I was scouted for being a high school detective, they’ve tasked me to privately investigate the mysterious Phantom Thieves, with my cousin overseeing my progress, because I think she knows how they induce a ‘change of heart’ in their targets.”

  


“For real?!” Ryuji whispered-shouted, only to get shushed by Ann.

  


Akira readjusted his glasses, taking a moment to process the new information. A school that assigned special examinations to their students? A detective they’re unaware of who may know about their methods? He didn’t have enough information on hand to form a solid perspective, so with that in mind, he had decided to press on the matter and was about to do so when he was interrupted—again—by the bell. Uncharacteristically irritated, he turned to the door—

  


—and was caught completely by (well-hidden) surprise. Ryuji took it upon himself to outwardly express the group’s shock with a comical jaw-drop.

  


The latest customer strode into the cafe, navy blue hair trailing slightly behind her. She wore a light grey suit, unbuttoned, white undershirt accentuating her azure necktie, and radiated an air of intelligence, as though she could read the minds of every person around her. Her light steps gracefully brought her to the seat next to Shuuichi, and Shirogane Naoto smiled fondly at her cousin.

  


“It’s been quite a long time since we last met, Shuuichi-kun.”

  


“It really has been a while, Naoto-san. How’ve you been?” her relative replied with equal fondness.

  


As the detectives caught up with each other, Akira silently began preparing Shuuichi’s other order—the _original_ Detective Prince’s order. Shirogane Naoto, initial holder of Akechi Goro’s title and the 5th generation of the esteemed Shirogane family, was a renowned freelance detective, solving decade-old unresolved cases with practiced ease and impressing the world with her cunning intellect. What was a famous detective like her doing here, in a backstreets cafe such as Leblanc?

  


“Ah, it looks like your coffee’s ready.”

  


The ravenette snapped out of his thoughts to see the pair looking at him. Brandishing his usual polite mask, he quickly served the drink, receiving Naoto’s thanks before she took a small sip.

  


“It’s as delicious as Sakura-san’s,” she commented, giving him an appraising stare. “You’re Kurusu Akira, yes? Former criminal record-holder who was sent here for probation under Sakura Sojiro’s care?”

  


The man in question ignored Shuuichi’s surprised look, and gave his answer cautiously. “Yes. Did he tell you all that?”

  


She shook her head. “Don’t worry; a friend of mine in the police force simply filled me in,” the detective assured, tone becoming apologetic as she continued. “After hearing about it, I decided to perform my own private investigation, and found out about Shido Masayoshi’s tampering. I tried to interfere, but to no avail. I’m sorry I could not correct the injustice that stemmed from your noble act.”

  


Silence filled the air after her apology, none knowing how to break it. Akira failed to mask his shock this time, eyes wide and mouth agape. Someone—the first Detective Prince no less—actually tried to help him?

  


“It-It’s fine,” the ravenette responded belatedly, at an utter loss for words. “It’s...all in the past now.”

  


Naoto’s intense gaze softened. “Yes, it is. But regardless, I still felt the need to apologize,” she insisted, tipping her head downward towards him briefly before closing the topic. “Anyway, I’m glad your record finally got cleared and your probation passed with little trouble.”

  


He nodded, genuinely grateful, and dispersed his suspicions of her. Despite the possibilities, he had a feeling that Shirogane Naoto was trustworthy.

  


Having said her piece, the female detective turned to her companion. “Now then, have you done your research on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Shuuichi-kun?”

  


“Of course,” he replied in earnest, and produced a thick folder from his briefcase. He then proceeded to recount what had transpired over the course of Akira’s probation, starting from their debut at Shujin Academy.

  


It was almost frightening how detailed the report was. Saihara Shuuichi was not someone to be taken lightly, it seemed. His investigation included information that would normally be overlooked: he had made mentions of Ryuji’s history with their first target, Kamoshida, Ann’s closeness with Shiho, one of his victims, Yusuke’s ties with the _Sayuri_ , a painting plagiarized by their following target, Madarame, and more. He had even considered the possibility that Akira’s falsified assault attempted may somehow be connected to the case! He may have been a mere apprentice, but if this were a video game, his deduction stat would probably have reached the rank of ultimate.

  


Fortunately, the detective-in-training’s report was still fairly incomplete. Every important detail that a normal human could possibly have found _was_ present, but no detective would be ever be capable of uncovering the secrets of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts unless they knew about— 

  


“Do you know what personas are, Shuuichi-kun?” Naoto asked just as her cousin concluded his report. Akira let out a muffled gasp. 

  


_It couldn’t be…!_

  


The female detective started her explanation with the late Isshiki Wakaba—Futaba’s mother—and her personal research on cognitive psience. She spoke of how each person had their own cognition of their surroundings, how one’s cognition could get distorted by desire, and how that desire could warp one’s personality. She touched upon personas, the masks that people wear to fit in, and how those masks could potentially manifest into a supernatural power.

  


“What do you think would happen if, somehow, someone entered another person’s cognitive world and, say, stole the object that represented all of their distorted desires?” Naoto asked hypothetically. “What would happen to that person’s cognition?”

  


Shuuichi’s eyebrows furrowed. “Their distorted desires would...vanish from their cognition? Wait…” his grey-gold eyes lit up, “are you saying that that’s what the Phantom Thieves did?!”

  


She smiled.

  


“So that’s what they meant by stealing their hearts…” he mumbled, more to himself, but everyone heard him nonetheless. “The reason why all their targets suddenly had a change of personality was because their warped wishes were _literally_ taken away from their cognition, changing their worldview and burdening them with the weight of their sins! _That’s_ why they’d always end up confessing…!”

  


“Yes.”

  


“But…” Shuuichi frowned. “even if that were true, that still doesn’t explain how they actually _stole_ people’s hearts.”

  


“Well,” Naoto glanced at Akira, “we don’t need to focus there. What’s important is whether or not you’ve figured out the truth behind the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Have all the blanks in your report been filled?”

  


“I think so,” he replied, and went over his investigation again, connecting matters that had once appeared to be unrelated to one another and applying the rules of cognitive psience to their many heists. The ravenette was both impressed and alarmed that their past operations had been so easily exposed.

  


“Holy shit, they saw right through us!”

  


“Ryuji, keep your voice down!”

  


“What do you think they plan on doing with their new discoveries?”

  


“I’m not sure. Futaba, can you—”

  


“I’m already on it! Hacking into Shirogane Naoto’s personal computer right—”

  


“That won’t be necessary.”

  


With a flinch, the not-so inconspicuous group slowly faced the original Detective Prince, each sporting the classic ‘deer-in-headlights’ expression.

  


“You need not be concerned,” she said with conviction, addressing everyone in the room. “None of us plan on sharing our deductions to the public.”

  


“I said this before, but this was only a test given to me by my academy,” the other detective added sincerely. “We don’t even have any hard evidence that you were all Phantom Thieves.”

  


His cousin nodded. “When I give my report to them, I just need to say that he either passed or failed. No one will hear about the details of our meeting here today, I promise.”

  


After some more convincing and reassurances, the ex-Phantom Thieves slowly calmed down, relieved. Akira released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  


“In any case, you’ve passed with flying colors,” Naoto congratulated, sending a proud smile to her companion. “I can see why that academy scouted you as a detective.”

  


“I just happened to catch their eye is all…” he muttered, embarrassed. “You deserve a place there more than I do.”

  


“Nonsense,” she countered. “You received an invitation just as I did, but you felt that you’d be able to grow as a detective there, unlike me. You need to be more confident about your abilities.”

  


Their conversation lasted for a few more minutes, but eventually, Shuuichi rose from his seat and gave his relative a hug, showering her endlessly with heartfelt gratitude before paying for their drinks and leaving the cafe with a vow to see her again soon. Following suit, the twin-tailed customer that had been engrossed in her book the whole time left without a word, sparing only a swift nod to the remaining detective as she silently made her exit.

  


“Do any of you recognize the name ‘Hope’s Peak Academy?’”

  


Akira and his friends looked blankly at the inquiring detective.

  


“Your lack of response speaks volumes,” Naoto chuckled. “Hope’s Peak Academy is a government-funded school that gathers youths—Ultimates, if you will—from all fields to cultivate their unique talents. They say that those who manage to graduate will be set for life.”

  


“I think I’ve heard rumors about that place on the internet, but I didn’t think it actually existed...” Futaba mumbled.

  


“Saihara-san was scouted for his talent as a detective,” Makoto guessed. “so he’s...the Ultimate Detective?”

  


“Correct.” Naoto looked at the door. “That girl who left right after Shuuichi-kun is also a student at Hope’s Peak,” she supplied. “I believe she was sent here to act as his bodyguard. Be glad you didn’t end up angering the Ultimate Assassin.”

  


The ex-Phantom Thieves collectively gulped.

  


“Anyway, I must be going,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she hadn’t mentioned anything important, and stood to her feet. “I promise not to reveal your identities, and you can trust me not to carelessly speak of this topic to anyone. Perhaps we can discuss more about Personas and Shadows another time.” She smiled. “Farewell.”

  


And she was gone.

  


Now that they were all alone, tension filled the air within the cafe, until—

  


“Was that for real just now?!” Ryuji broke it with ease. “Dude, how does she know about Personas and Shadows n’ all that?!”

  


The others followed his example, each declaring their own thoughts and theories loudly enough to wake a certain slumbering cat.

  


“Hey, what’s with all the racket?! Can’t a cat get his beauty sleep?!”

  


Morgana’s disgruntled protests got a laugh out of Akira, slowly turning the atmosphere into something more lighthearted.

  


It was just a normal day at Leblanc, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment down below if you spot any errors! Actually, PLEASE TELL ME IF THERE'RE ERRORS. Critique would also be nice.
> 
> Shuuichi and Naoto are related and you can't tell me different.  
> ~Panda


End file.
